UPDATE: The 14 year old boy I refer to on this blog lost his battle to cancer on December 21, 2015. The day after this blog. Please read his story

Christmas is only five days away. I can hardly believe it’s almost here. Every year I have written a letter to Santa asking for virtually the same things. Everything from The new Victoria Secret magazine…and I mean everything, a breast augmentation, an island getaway, a million dollars and a super cool boyfriend who’s a lot of fun, loves to travel, loves the beach and the pool, a sun worshiper one might say, loves to dance, laugh, listen to music & loves Broadway. Not much to ask unless you’re me. Of course, I’m only kidding. I don’t want everything from Victoria Secret just mostly everything and after fighting breast cancer a breast augmentation is no longer on my bucket list. 
These past few years have been the most challenging and humbling years of my life. But through all the adversities and the pain,I have been blessed to discover what’s really important in life and more importantly the value of helping others. 

I grew up rather spoiled. A daddy’s girl for sure. I drove fancy cars and wore expensive clothes. I never wanted for much that my dad wouldn’t provide me with. Never in a million years did I think I’d find myself broke, in debt, living with a crazy old man in my beloved city by the bay fighting cancer then forced to move back to Washington to live with worse….my mom at the age of 25….x 2!!! That’s 50 but shhh don’t tell!!  

I’ve spent my entire life as what some might refer to as a diva. I had everything I ever wanted. I had a pretty good life. That is until I moved to San Francisco and everything fell apart. The “Greatest American Salesman” I once was couldn’t even find a job. I found myself broke, humiliated and so depressed. Worse was my boyfriend. While he provided many wonderful experiences, he also provided experiences I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Then if things couldn’t get any worse, cancer struck. With cancer came a fight life had not prepared me for. I lost everything including my hair, nails, dignity and the boyfriend I gave up my whole entire life for. I’m still trying to recover!  

My story is rather tragic but I can assure you, I’m not the first woman to experience the pitfalls in life and I certainly won’t be the last. I can also assure you that while my story is tragic there is always someone out there who has it worse!  I found this out the hard way. 

I’m a proud Catholic. I’m also a member of St Dominics Church in San Francisco. I’ve been a member since 2013. I have St Dominics Church and the wonderful priests, deacons, sisters and parishioners for saving me and changing my life forever. They taught me the importance of love, empathy and helping those in need. Despite all of the challenges I was facing, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet those in worse predicaments and while I volunteered my time helping others it was the very people I was trying to help that actually helped me. The tragedy in their life opened my spiritual heart and spiritual eyes to being empathetic towards others especially when in need. I’m very passionate about this. 

I am on social media a lot. I’m constantly posting music, pictures and even jokes but more importantly I’m constantly using my platform encouraging others to help those in need. I find it amusing when I post a photo of myself, I receive many, many likes but when I post something encouraging others to give to the homeless or to those fighting cancer,  I receive one or two likes. I’m sure people get tired of my rants or requests to help others and I would imagine some might think I’m not serious. Others may even think I’m just talking the talk and not walking the walk. This isn’t the case. I not only talk the talk but I walk the walk too. I don’t always share because I don’t feel the need to tell others of the causes I support. That’s between me, God and those I support. 

I don’t have a “pot to piss in”. In fact, I’m  swimming in debt but every pay period I choose a cause I’m passionate about and mail a check. If I’m not helping the homeless, missionaries, friends in need, and of course my beloved church, I’m advocating to others of the importance to help those in need. I’ve experienced a lot these past few years and the experiences have made me a much more empathetic person towards others. I have some idea of how they feel or what they’re going through. I have a friend who has experienced much tragedy this past year. She recently shared that people always offer to pray but never offer to help. This is so true. It’s easy to pray and very much appreciated but the real test is how willing are we to step out of our “safety zone” and do the work to help others and make a difference. 

This morning I was on Facebook and happened to read a few posts of a young 14 year old boy in my community fighting cancer. His mom has quit her job to take care of her son. As a cancer survivor, I’m no stranger to the expense this fight is for this family. As a mother, I commend this woman for making the sacrifice to be there for her son. I would do the same. I took the time to click on their gofundme page and read their story. Their story broke my heart. I don’t know this family but I was inclined to help. 

I am attaching the link and would like to ask everyone to click on the link and read their story. I’m not going to ask you to donate but I am going to challenge everyone reading my blog to do something awesome this holiday season and make a difference in someone’s life. Whether it’s taking soup to a sick friend, supporting a cause you’re passionate about or even praying for someone…give back. That’s really what Christmas is all about. Spreading good will. And if you are stumped what causes to support, email or call me and I’m happy to suggest a few. 

Christmas is really the celebration of the birth of Jesus. It’s become so commercialized that even I am guilty of losing the real meaning of Christmas. Many years ago we all used to wear a bracelet with the letters WWJD. This stands for “what would Jesus do”. When you find yourself walking past a homeless person asking for a dollar as you open the door to a Starbucks to buy yourself a latte you are faced with a choice….give up that latte and give to the homeless person or just walk on by. The answer will come very quickly if you refer to those four letters “WWJD”. What Would Jesus Do?  You’ll know the right thing to do. 

Merry Christmas to all of my readers. Thank you for supporting my blog this year. I’m looking forward to 2016 and the “New Beginnings” it will bring in to my life and yours!!!  Whether my experiences are good times or bad, you can bet I’ll be blogging about it. I’ll leave you with a YouTube video if my son playing my favorite holiday song “Carol of the Bells” Have a wonderful holiday and remember give back and together we will make a difference. 

Peace

Velma D

https://de.gofund.me/og9nf4&rcid=b91955d784fa49df8338d1d476062d02